R.I.P. Whitey Ford

Next year the memorial clips at the Oscars, Emmys, and ESPYs will set records for how long they’ll be. Today former Reds second-baseman Joe Morgan passed away. Here’s the SABR info on Yankee hall of fame pitcher Whitey Ford.

WHITEY FORD [SABR Bio] broke Babe Ruth’s most cherished record in 1961. Ruth had set the record for consecutive scoreless World Series innings by a pitcher in 1918 with 29-2/3. Ford passed him in the 1961 Fall Classic vs. CIN when his scoreless innings streak reached 30. He extended it to 33-2/3 in 1962 vs. SFG and saw the streak come to an end when Willie Mays scored in the bottom of the 2nd inning of the 1st G of the 1962 WS. Ruth was known to say that his record of 60 HR in a season would not stand the test of time. Nobody remembers any such claims about this WS streak. Ford (not Ruth) owns the career World Series records for most wins, innings pitched, games started and strikeouts. Ford’s career World Series records: 10 pitching victories; 146 innings pitched; 22 games started; and 94 strikeouts.

Ford not only set the record for most consecutive World Series Game One starts. He then tied that record six years later. He was the team’s game one starter in every World Series 1955-1958, becoming the first pitcher in history to start four consecutive WS game ones. He repeated the feat 1961-1964. His career winning percentage is among the best ever in major league history - Career W% = .690, 4th all-time, #1 among pitchers with 3,000 IP. He won the Cy Young Award and World Series MVP in the same season - WS MVP 1961. CYA 1961, the 1st ALBLTL to win the award. Leads all Yankees in career Wins (236), Shutouts (45), IP (3,1701/3) & Games started (438 [Tied w/Andy Pettitte]). His was the sixth uniform number retired by the Yankees’ franchise. His #16 was retired 03-Aug-1974.

Whitey’s career ERA is the lowest of any pitcher since the deadball era (3,000 IP min). Career ERA of 2.75 is the best since 1921. The first nine regular-season decisions of his career were victories. He posted a tidy 2.06 ERA during his nine game winning streak 17-July and 25-Sept-1950. His Hall of Fame manager called him “Slick”. Casey Stengel thought he was the slickest of moundsmen.

_{I worked in the office on Friday. On the way home I bought a vest to wear this winter. Ceil was praying with her friends. Later she stopped by the grocery store and cooked supper: pasta with meat sauce and kale. Watched GT beat Louisville and the end of the Heat/Lakers game.}

_{Saturday morning I straightened upstairs. C made us English muffins with egg and cheese. She went shopping. I watched ESPN College Gameday. Was doing laundry and other chores with the Texas A&M/Florida game on. Had to journey down to the creek to retrieve the recycle dumpster that had tumbled down there Wednesday night in the dark. No easy way to pull it up, so I went straight back up the hill that it fell down. Not easy. I was filthy dirty when I made it to the top.}

_{Showered and watched the first half of UGA/Tennessee. Then we drove down to Krog Street Market to meet Matthew. I dropped off C and they ordered take out from Superica, and picked up four pints of Jeni’s ice cream.} 

By the time we all made it to W&MC’s the rain was really coming down. There was 6” inches of water in the streets. I had to make two trips out to the car, and was completely soaked when I got back to the house. The hurricane remnants were passing through Atlanta, bringing flooding and scattered tornadoes. We didn’t see much wind, but the roads were really bad. I didn’t want to take 20 west and 285 north home, so we went MLK to Northside to Howell Mill to 75 north. The northern part of town didn’t get as much rain, but in our neighborhood one creek was flowing over the street.

Joel Norman is getting married this coming weekend, in the backyard of his in-law’s house in Birmingham. W&MC will attend. On the morning of the wedding Joel wants all the guys to play basketball. Willis Norman will be getting engaged soon.  

Sunday School on line, with at least 34 in attendance. Afterward I had to run errands, shipping a package via UPS. I took Barney with me since I wasn’t getting out of the car. Barney enjoyed it, but he still is sick. Can’t keep anything down. Real puny.

Watched a little of the Falcons. Ceil went to her women’s ministry. Later we watched a Hallmark movie. I wasn’t feeling great so I went to bed at 9:30. Working from home today.